News for
February 11, 2026

 

By Dr. Joel Holman
JHS Boys Wrestling Coach

After losing to Canyon View in a competitive divisional tournament, many people thought that Juab would be challenged at state this year. Those people forgot to let our wrestlers know that that was the plan. We had a great tournament with every varsity wrestler but one placing in the top three and we securely won by over 45 points. Once again, we were cheered on by the biggest fan section in the building, waving rally towels and wearing crimson shirts. The wrestlers know that the fans give us an extra advantage at state and we appreciate the support.

We scored 277.5 points over second place Canyon View at 232. Morgan and Delta took a distant third and fourth with 165 and 163.5 points respectively. We had 24 wrestlers compete and had 16 placers with a top three finisher in every weight but two. We had seven finalists and two champions. We had the most pins, the most tech falls, and scored the most total match points of any team in the tournament. It really was a great team effort.

At 106, Jack Holman took second place and Bowdee McPherson took fifth. Jack had a tough road to the finals and he wrestled with maturity and poise above what you would expect for a freshman. In the quarters, he beat the one seed from the other division and in the semis he avenged his divisional loss. He wrestled a great match in the finals but ultimately was outmanned and overpowered. Bowdee wrestled a good tournament, winning a hard-fought battle in the quarters before losing in the semis to the eventual champion. He came back strong on the back side to finish with an impressive major decision victory to complete his freshman campaign. Jack and Bowdee are both impressive freshmen who were a bit undersized this year. Give them another year of maturity and they will be hard to beat. Expect them to take state next year, they expect it!

Trevor Cowan placed second and Leo Larson went 2-2 at 113. Trevor was dominant on his way to the finals. In the finals he had a tough opponent whom Trevor narrowly beat early in the season. We knew it would be a competitive match. Trevor wrestled well and got the first takedown, maintaining the lead into the third period. He gave up a takedown late in the third and was unable to escape, losing 4-5. He gave a great effort and we are proud of him. Leo is a freshman who had been an important part of our varsity lineup this year. He always fights hard and the state tournament was no exception. This was a good experience for him and will prepare him for greater success in the future.

At 120, Liam Nielsen placed third and Tagert Shepherd was 1-2. Liam is a uniquely talented freshman who wrestles with emotion and heart. He is very tough on top and his ability to pin scores a lot of points for the team. He started the tournament with two pins before a tough semifinals loss. He recovered from that and finished with two more pins to take third. Liam is going to do great things in the future and we are excited for the next three years. Tagert started the tournament with a pin before losing to the eventual champion in the quarters. He then lost a tough overtime match to exit the tournament. That match is a good analogy for Tagert. He is so close to getting the win he needs to elevate his wrestling. Next year he will be a senior and hopefully we can turn that corner.

At 132, Jet Abbott took second and Brevan Miller took fourth. Jet had a great tournament on his way to the finals with a pin and a tech fall. We anticipated that he would continue that momentum in the finals, but it didn’t go that way. He gave up a takedown and near fall in the first to fall behind. He worked hard to make a comeback but was caught on his back again in the third period. It was too much of a deficit to overcome and he fell short. Give credit to his opponent, but we feel that Jet is the better wrestler, just not on that night. We know Jet will continue to train and get better and do everything he can to reverse the outcome next year. Brevan has had a breakout year and the state tournament was no exception. He surprised a lot of people by placing fourth and next year he is going to surprise a lot more. We are excited to see what Brevan can do with his unique style.

Drake Johnson took second and Traedun Osborne went 2-2 at 138. Drake finished off his senior campaign with a second appearance in the finals. Unfortunately, he was unable to repeat as a state champion, but he wrestled to win and left everything on the mat. He has had a great career and he should be proud. He has been a great team leader, creating a culture of inclusion and team first. We are fortunate to have had him on our team. Traedun wrestled really well for the majority of his matches. He was winning at the beginning of both of the matches that he lost. This has been an issue for him that we haven’t yet figured out. He is a very talented athlete on the verge of making his mark. Next year is he senior year and we hope he can find the success he deserves.

At 144 we have Teegan Anderson and Teagan Andersen. Teegan placed second in a hard-fought match that seemed more like a brawl than organized competition. He gave everything he had to give in the final match of his career, then he slowly and quietly walked off the mat, as he does every time. This pretty much sums up Teegan. He will give you everything he has when the whistle blows and then retire back to himself, his team and his family when it is over. Teagan is a freshman with a lot of potential. He accomplished his goal of qualifying for state and looks to build on that this off season.

Kaden Martineau was our first state champion at 150. Since last year, he has dedicated a lot of time to wrestling and accomplishing this goal that evaded him last year. He was dominant this year, winning two matches by tech fall and two by pin fall. Kaden will continue to work to get better at wrestling and anticipated two more championships in the years to come. Parker Applegate was our other qualifier at 150. He was recovering from surgery for the first half of the season and has had a hard time finding his groove since. He works hard year-round and we are going to do all we can to put it together for his senior season.

At 157, Landon Whitaker was 1-2. Landon is a second-year wrestler who has had to step up for the team a lot in his short career. He has had to fill in at multiple weights this year to help the team create the best lineup. In doing so, he’s taken a lot of lumps. He has done it with a great attitude and a team first mentality. He has shown a lot of improvement this year and we hope to get him on the podium next year.

Justus Reynolds placed third at 165. He started the tournament in dominant fashion with two pins. He was then upset in the semis in a very emotional match. This created a good opportunity for Justus to learn how to regroup and compete again after an unanticipated loss. He handled it well and came back to take third and finish on a positive note. Justus has improved his position on the podium every year and next year we anticipate that he will make the top.

At 175, Xander Nielsen placed third and Jarrett White was 1-2. Xander had the most tech falls of the tournament with three. His other win was a first period pin. He also scored the most individual points in a match and the most points by an individual in the tournament. He has had a great season with a lot of growth and capped it off with a great state tournament. He will continue to get better and will be in contention for titles the next couple years. Jarrett has had a good season. He has improved immensely and more importantly has learned that he is a wrestler. He plans to work hard to get ready for next year and have a break out season.

Ladd Holman place first at 190 and Isaac Dansie placed fifth. Ladd pinned all of his opponents in the first period with a combined total wrestling time of one minute and fifty-seven seconds. He was a great leader and player-coach to his teammates during the tournament and he is a great representation of Juab Wrestling. Isaac has shown great improvement this year, topped off by finishing on the podium in the state tournament. If he can continue to improve the same way next year, he has the potential to finish at the top of the podium next year.

Ryder Vincent placed third at 215. He had two falls on his way to the semifinals before losing a tough match to the eventual champion. Ryder gave him the best match of the tournament and arguably should have been in the finals. Nonetheless, Ryder wrestled back tough to take third. This is a big confidence builder for Ryder and we are excited to see how well he can do his senior year. Grady Jacobsen also qualified at 215. This is his first year qualifying and is a great springboard for the next couple years. Grady has shown a lot of improvement this year, physically and technically. We feel that he is going to really show out the next couple years.

Finally, at 285 we have two placers: Kael Blackett took third and Jacob Adams took fifth. Unfortunately, they had to wrestle each other in the consolation semi finals and this knocked Jake down to fifth. It has been a back and forth year between these two and both were capable of making the finals under the right circumstances. We are fortunate to have two great heavyweights and are excited to see how it turns out next year.

We have a young team this year, graduating only two seniors in the state line-up. Our junior class is big and talented with a lot of individual expectation of state titles next year. Our underclassmen have both individual talent and numbers. We have some development to do, but the wrestlers are excited about wrestling and to see what they can accomplish. We will start preparation for next year in the next few weeks!